Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers

Clei and Resource Furniture were major sponsors of Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers.

Designed by Italian Architect Pierluigi Colombo

Co-curated by The Museum of the City of New York and Citizens Housing and Planning Council, the exhibit was open for nine months – including an extended month due to popular demand — and offered insights into New York City’s changing demographics. The exhibit demonstrated how the rise of single adult households are dramatically re-shaping New York City’s housing landscape and presented creative solutions to the numerous housing issues New Yorkers face now and into the future.

Together Resource Furniture and Clei, the Italian designer and manufacturer of the “wall beds” (formerly known as “Murphy beds”), were responsible for the realization of “LaunchPad, a 325 square foot ” full-scale “micro” unit constructed within the exhibition space. The LaunchPad interior was designed by Italian architect Pierluigi Colombo, who also serves as Design and Art Director at Clei. The hyper-functional living area layout and furnishings feature a number of transforming pieces to maximize space. The “Swing” wall bed, for instance, features a sofa on the front for daytime use and a pull-down, queen-sized bed at night.

The exhibit played host to a number of events, including sleepovers that gave participants a taste of what living, cooking, entertaining and sleeping in a micro-apartment is really like. It was a real-life Night at the Museum!